Commerzbank Securities Adds New Staff To Its New York Equities and Derivatives Teams.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001

Commerzbank Securities today announced three new additions to its Equities and Derivatives teams in New York. These additions push Commerzbank Securities closer to the year-end goal of 300 in total staff in New York. The new hires are:

-- Christopher Golembiewski will be a convertible bonds trader, Derivatives. He
will report to Henry van Moyland, who will be head of US Convertible
Bonds-Trading, Derivatives. Mr. Golembiewski was formerly with Susquehanna
Partners as head of Fixed Income Research. Prior to that he held positions with
Santander Investments, Peregrine Securities Ltd. and Smith Barney. He is a
Ph.D. candidate in finance at IESE.

-- Sophie Gioanni joins as salesperson, European Sales reporting to Nick Hiley,
head of European Sales, Americas. Ms.Gioanni's prior assignment was senior
business development manager, EncripTix. Other previous assignments include UBS
Warburg and Sullivan & Cromwell. She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from Duke
University.

-- Sheila Qiu will be senior quantitative structurer, Structured Products. She
will report to Eduardo Bastida, head of Structured Products-Trading (Americas),
Derivatives. Formerly Ms. Qiu was a vice president, Emerging Markets
Derivatives Trading with Deutsche Bank. Other previous assignments included
Bankers Trust and UBS Securities. She holds a Ph.D. in Physics (Theoretical)
from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

According to Ricardo Pascoe, managing director and executive general manager of Commerzbank Securities in the Americas: " These hires underscore the exceptional quality of our New York staff and out commitment to the highest standards of intellectual capital. We are well on our way to reaching the staffing goals we have set for our 2001 expansion."

Commerzbank Securities is the fully integrated investment banking division of Commerzbank AG, one of Europe's leading banks with a strong position at the heart of the new Euro-zone. It utilizes access to Commerzbank's $433bn balance sheet (12/31/00) and, A+/Aa3/A+ credit ratings from S&P, Moody's and Fitch IBCA. In the United States, Commerzbank Securities transacts business through Commerzbank Capital Markets Corporation, a wholly owned registered broker-dealer of Commerzbank AG. Commerzbank Capital Markets Corporation is a member of NYSE, NASD and SIPC.